Jerusalem -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- When Tanya Rosenblit boarded an inter-city bus bound for Jerusalem from her native Ashdod Friday morning , she did not anticipate the storm it would spark within Israel .

The public bus she boarded normally carries ultra-Orthodox passengers and travels to an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood in Jerusalem .

As a matter of custom women sit in the back portion of the bus , because the ultra-Orthodox avoid mingling of the sexes according to their beliefs . She was the first passenger that morning on the bus and took a seat behind the driver . As the bus took on more passengers along its route , an ultra-orthodox man demanded she should sit in the back of the bus as is the custom on that route .

`` I heard him call me ` Shikse , ' '' Rosenblit wrote on her Facebook page , referencing a Yiddish term for a non-Jewish woman . `` He demanded I sit in the back of the bus , because Jewish men could n't sit behind women -LRB- !!! -RRB- . I refused . ''

`` This is my home town of Ashdod , I live in an Israeli democracy , people can not tell me where to sit on a bus . ''

An argument ensued and ultimately the bus driver called the police to intervene , but not before a crowd of black-clad ultra-orthodox men had gathered outside the bus .

`` I was starting to get scared , to tell you the truth , '' Rosenblit recalled . `` There were like 20 of them , all wearing black . Most of them were just curious , but they were definitely on his side . ''

Rosenblit snapped throughout this disruption , and said she was comfortable knowing that Israeli law was on her side .

In a case brought by an Israeli woman earlier this year , the country 's Supreme Court ruled that involuntary separation between the sexes on public buses was against the law .

The responding police officer tried to talk to everyone and calm things down . Rosenblit said he asked if she was willing to show respect for the objectors and move to the back of the bus . She refused and , after a 30-minute delay , the bus moved on to Jerusalem with her sitting up front .

A day after posting the account on Facebook , Rosenblit 's story was picked up by the Israeli media , which has been devoting a lot of coverage to the public outcry over the growing political power of the ultra-Orthodox in Israel , and fears they are forcing the generally secular Israeli public to adopt their religious standards .

Israel 's largest circulation newspaper put her story on its front page with the headline , `` They Wo n't Tell Me Where to Sit , '' and compared Rosenblit to the American civil rights movement 's legendary Rosa Parks .

On Sunday , Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu brought up her story in his weekly cabinet meeting .

`` Up until this day we have agreed to live in peace with mutual respect by all sectors of the Israeli society , '' he told his government ministers .

`` In recent days we witness attempts to break this coexistence apart . Today , for example , I have heard of an attempt to move a woman from her seat on a bus . I oppose this unequivocally . I believe we must not allow margins groups to break our common denominator and we must keep our public spaces open and safe for all of our citizens . We must find the uniting and mediating ground rather than the things that divide and separate us . '' Netanyahu said .

Rosenblit also received a call from Israel 's opposition leader , Tzipi Livni , who offered her support and called her a symbol of determination against `` anti-democratic radicalization that pushes women away from the public space . ''

A spokesman for Egged , the transportation company that runs the bus line , told CNN in a statement that it `` does not deal with seating arrangements '' on its buses and that `` even if there are population groups that prefer to sit separately due to their beliefs , it is a voluntary choice and does not bind the other passengers . ''

Rosenblit describes herself as secular and said she did not ride the bus looking for a confrontation . She said what motivated her to write about her experience was not `` not to declare the Orthodox Jews as pure evil and the oppressors of human rights and liberties , '' but to point out what she sees as societal problem in Israel .

`` There are a lot of lovely things about religion , but forcing people to choose religion is wrong , '' she said .

`` It is wrong to use religion as an excuse to eliminate people 's basic rights : the right for freedom and the right for dignity . ''

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Women sit in the back portion of the bus because ultra-Orthodox avoid mingling of sexes

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Tanya Rosenblit was first passenger that morning on bus and took a seat behind the driver

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Rosenblit : ' I live in an Israeli democracy , people can not tell me where to sit on a bus '

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Supreme Court : Involuntary separation between sexes on public buses against the law